The unquestioned centerpiece of NASCAR’s Hall of Fame in downtown Charlotte is Glory Road, a great hall lined with stock cars that represent more than 60 years of NASCAR history. Last week, Glory Road completed its first major change, with a total of 18 new historic stock cars installed as part of the exhibit.

If you’re in Charlotte this week, you’re in luck, as the city is hosting a big pre-season blast with the fifth annual Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Wednesday, January 29, honoring new inductees Tim Flock, Jack Ingram, Dale Jarrett, Maurice Petty and Fireball Roberts. Ticket prices range from $45 for general admission to $350 for an exclusive Driver Dinner Package. There’s also the Sprint Cup Media Tour and the National Motorsport Press Association’s annual awards banquet, plus a special Fan Appreciation Day on Saturday, February 1, when admission fees to the hall will be waived. Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin and Greg Biffle will headline a group of more than 20 NASCAR national series drivers scheduled to interact with fans. Several NASCAR Hall of Famers, including 2014 inductees Ingram, Jarrett and Petty, will also be on hand. Fans will have free access on a first-come, first-served basis in lieu of needing a ticket. However, fans need to secure free tickets for the driver autograph sessions in advance.

The sport stopped being stock cars after gen 2. Gen 3 and beyond are not using much, if anything, of the stock model represented. Maybe gen 3 cars had the roof and trunk lid off the stock version, but nothing else was from the factory. All the new ones are purpose built identical cars with stickers to differentiate the manufacturers.

………missing are Carl Kiekhaefer’s game changing Mercury Outboard Chrysler 300′s, the team that dragged a scruffy NASCAR into the world of professionally sponsored sports.
And it’s about time they gave Fireball Roberts the recognition he deserved… ignoring him has been a disgrace …….arguably NASCAR’s first superstar.

Precisely…just a reminder of nascars prejudice against Mopar and doing anything possible to get Ford competitive. {i know this will start a torrent of indignant comments and stat spewing, but whatever…sometimes the truth hurts]
Any ‘Hall of Fame’ for nascar cars would have to include Petty’s 64 Plymouth, his 67 and several iterations of later Chargers and wing cars, not to mention the 300s in the fifties.
Tojos?!?!? not so much.

Being raised as a young teenager in Daytona Beach, all my friends were big fans of Glen “Fireball” Roberts as he was the local hero. I remember him driving a black and gold Pontiac, I think it was #22, that was set up by Smokey Yunick. We all thought that was the coolest car ever. We were saddened by his death in Charlotte in a fiery crash on the backstretch.

I grew up with the 2nd generation cars. They look a lot like their original production cars. With 3rd gen Luminas I always thought how great they look as race cars, and how much different they are as production cars. Really hasn’t gotten any better.